The embodiments described herein relate to aligning a video adapter in association with its functionality. More specifically, the embodiments relate to managing an operating mode of a general-purpose computing on graphics processing unit (GPGPU) adapter.
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is an electronic circuit that is designed to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a visual display. GPUs are found and used in many computing devices including, but not limited to, personal computers, gaming consoles, mobile phones, workstations, embedded systems, etc. In the case of a personal computer, a GPU may be present on a video adapter. A video adapter, also known in the art as a video card, a graphics card, a graphics board, a graphics adapter, etc., is a device that is connected to the motherboard of the personal computer and interfaces with a visual display in order to output an image feed to the visual display.
Video adapters are connected to the motherboard by means of a motherboard interface (e.g., a computer bus). One example of a computer bus is a Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI. Such PCIs include conventional PCI (PCI), PCI Extended (PCI-X), and PCI Express (PCIe). PCI and PCI-X are sometimes referred to as “Parallel PCI,” in contrast to the more modern PCIe, which uses a serial, lane-based architecture. Video adapters may be connected to the visual display by means of an output interface. Types of output interfaces include, but are not limited to, Video Graphics Array (VGA), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), DisplayPort, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), Separate Video (S-Video), Composite Video, and Component Video.